August Store Sales Up

According to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, bookstore sales rose 5.4% in August, to $2.43 billion, and were up 2.4% for the first eight months of 2008, to $11.24 billion. Sales for all of retail were flat in August and were up 2.8% for the year to date.

Weak Holiday Foreseen

Twenty-six percent of consumers surveyed by the NPD Group said they plan to spend less on holiday gifts this holiday season compared to 2007. In 2007, only 18% of consumers said they planned to cut purchases. In a bit of a silver lining for publishers and booksellers, however, books ranked fourth on the list of top 10 items consumers plan to buy as gifts, with 27% of consumers saying they would purchase books to give this year.

BEC Revamped

Prefabricated booths and more interactive events on the show floor are two of the major changes coming to BookExpo Canada next June 19—22 in Toronto. In cooperation with Indigo, BEC is also planning to launch a consumer event in Toronto next fall; details about dates and venue are still being worked out.

MBI Now QDS

Quayside has renamed its MBI Distribution Services unit Quayside Distribution Services. Quayside added the distribution unit when it acquired MBI Publishing in August 2007.

Owen Named Bonnier Group Publisher

John Owen, cofounder of Weldon Owen, has been named group publisher for Bonnier Publishing. The Scandinavian company bought WO in 2006. In his new role, Owen will help identify global opportunities where Bonnier’s companies can work together.

S&S Inks Mobile Deal

S&S has signed a deal with MPS Mobile that will allow MPS to distribute over 500 S&S e-books through its Global Reader platform, which makes digital book content available over Web-enabled mobile phone.

Penguin, Ingram in Digital Deal

Penguin and Ingram Digital have signed a deal through which Ingram is now responsible for hosting, managing and distributing Penguin’s e-books and digital audio books. Ingram will handle roughly 11,000 Penguin titles in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.

New 'Chronicle’ Book Editor

Following the departures of San Francisco Chronicle book review editor Oscar Villalon and deputy book editor Regan McMahan, John McMurtrie has taken over the Sunday Books section. He will also handle the reviews that run in the paper’s daily Datebook.